[April 15, 2014]New York right-hander Masahiro
Tanaka is thriving amid the hoopla surrounding the start of his major
league career and faces another high-profile outing when the Yankees
host the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday to start a two-game series. Tanaka
takes center stage as two of the most storied franchises in baseball get
together at Yankee Stadium on Jackie Robinson Day across Major League
Baseball as the Japanese superstar tries to record a third quality start
in three outings. "He's adjusted really well so far, for me," Yankees
manager Joe Girardi told reporters. "He's handled the situation pretty
well. I'm sure I'll learn more as time goes on. ..."

Jason Hammel won his first two starts in a Cubs uniform and will
oppose Tanaka, and didn't hide his enthusiasm about where he will
pitch, telling reporters: "It's one of those bucket list-type
places. Yankee Stadium, it's an eye opener and so much fun to be
there." New York swept Chicago in the 1938 World Series and the
teams didn't meet again until 2003 after the advent of interleague
play, with the Yankees winning six of the nine encounters since. The
Yankees have all the momentum after taking three of four against
defending World Series champion Boston over the weekend while the
Cubs lost their eighth straight series by dropping two of three in
St. Louis.

Hammel allowed three hits — all home runs — in seven innings of a
7-5 victory over the Pirates on Wednesday after winning at
Pittsburgh in his Chicago debut April 3. The 31-year-old Greenville,
S.C., native has plenty of experience pitching against New York
while with Tampa Bay and Baltimore, going 3-3 with a 5.17 ERA in 17
games (11 starts), and is 1-1, 2.65 in three starts at the new
Yankee Stadium. Kelly Johnson homered twice in 27 at-bats while
Ichiro Suzuki is 8-for-20 against Hammel.

Tanaka yielded all six of his runs in the first two innings — a
three-run homer on a hanging slider by Jonathan Schoop while
receiving a no-decision in a 5-4 loss to Baltimore on Wednesday and
the others in a 7-3 victory at Toronto on April 4 in his
major-league debut. "If you look at the first two starts, the
beginning of the game, I'm missing my spots and giving up runs,"
Tanaka told reporters through an interpreter. "I need to make my
adjustments, try not to do that." Tanaka, who received a seven-year
contract worth $155 million from the Yankees, was 24-0 with a 1.27
ERA in Japan last year and hasn't lost in 28 decisions since Aug.
19, 2012.

The Yankees placed Francisco Cervelli (right hamstring) on the
15-day disabled list while C Brian McCann is day-to-day after
injuring his right hand Sunday.

The Cubs' Emilio Bonifacio was 19 for his first 38 before going
1-for-13 in the St. Louis series.

Every player will wear No. 42 on Tuesday to mark the 67th
anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the MLB color barrier. The
last player to actually wear No. 42 was former Yankee great Mariano
Rivera, who retired after the 2013 season and was among those who
were wearing the number when it was retired by MLB in 1997.